The baby's arrival leaves Spite unimpressed.
It is a tiny, noisy, smelly, helpless lump. It takes up all of Rook and Lucanis's time and attention. When Lucanis finally sleeps and Spite gets a turn in their body, the baby shrieks and wakes him up again. For reasons Spite can't understand, Lucanis wants to be around the baby all the time. Lucanis thinks about the baby all the time.
Rook says it will someday be a person. Spite has his doubts. Even when it becomes a slightly larger lump that can move around on its own, it crawls on its hands and knees. It doesn't use its feet. Even Curiosity can use its feet!
Then one night when Spite finally gets to use the body and he's doing flying loops around the ballroom chandelier, he feels something tug at him. It's not magic. It's not a smell or a sound or a shift in the air. He doesn't know what it is, but he thinks he should—or that he did once.
He follows the feeling and, to his surprise, ends up at the baby's room. When he creaks the door open to peek inside, he braces for shrieking, but the baby, though awake, doesn't even seem to notice him. Its dark eyes are fixed firmly on the bars of the strange cage it sleeps in. Its brow is furrowed with tiny lines, and its mouth pulls down in a pursed pout. It reaches out its tiny hands, grabs the bars, and rocks on its fat little knees.
It wants to do something. It's determined to do something.
Spite leans a little further into the room. Something about the scene has him captivated. He practically holds his breath as the baby lets out a grunt of effort and then slowly, painstakingly pulls itself to its feet. With a whoop, Spite dashes to the sleeping cage, wings spread wide, bathing the room in a bright purple glow.
"You used! Your feet!" he exclaims.
The baby's eyes go round, and Spite shrinks back. He remembers the one time he tried to show the baby his wings when it was a smaller lump. It had screamed and screamed, and Rook had asked him not to do it again. The baby's mouth opens, and Spite prepares to flee the body and let Lucanis handle the screaming.
But the baby doesn't scream. It laughs.
The shrieking Rook says is the baby's laugh isn't all that different from the screaming, but its mouth is stretched in a wide grin. It releases its grasp on the bars to clap its hands and immediately falls back onto its rump. With much less effort than the first time, it pulls itself up to stand again. It uses one hand to firmly grip a bar and reaches the other toward Spite's wings.
Spite flutters one wing closer, and the baby, still laughing, bends and straightens its knees, bouncing in delight.
"Pah!" it says, which is the noise it makes when it sees Lucanis. "Pah!"
"No," Spite says. "Not Pah. Spite." He points to the wings and then his glowing eyes. "Spite."
The baby stops its bouncing, and the focused expression of before returns. It tilts its head and fixes Spite with a serious gaze. Spite leans closer until they are almost nose to nose.
"Spite," he repeats.
"Sssssss...," the baby hisses.
Spite nods and doesn't lean back even when the baby's free hand tugs roughly at his hair. "Yes. Say it. Say Spite."
"Spah," the baby says. And then, after a particularly emphatic yank of Spite's hair, it triumphantly yells, "Spy!"
"Yes!" Spite crows. His wings shiver in excitement, and the baby bats at the one closest.
"Spy!" it shouts. "Spy!"
Spite grins at the giddy feeling bubbling in his chest, one only Lucanis has felt around the baby until now.
The baby knows him. The baby likes him.
They spend several minutes enjoying their new game. Spite laughs as he flicks his wings toward the baby and away, and the baby cheerfully cries his name as it tries to snatch the gleaming feathers. But the baby's voice gets softer, and its grin shrinks to a smaller smile and then fades entirely. Its round face scrunches up again, its focus engaged in some new thought.
Spite watches breathlessly, waiting to see what the baby will learn to do next. The baby's face turns pink and then a mottled red with effort. Rook told him the baby wouldn't have wings, but as Spite watches the tiny muscles tremble with strain and hears the baby grunt, a little part of him wonders if feathers and light will suddenly erupt from its back.
Then the smell hits.
Spite rears back with a snarl of disgust. He and Lucanis have perfected smooth handovers of their shared body, but this time Spite jerks away with such abruptness that Lucanis is left staggering. Spite doesn't apologize. He flees the room to escape the horrid stench and then decides to flee the entire family wing just to be safe.
He'll tell Lucanis the baby said his name later.
A list of 30 writing prompts inspired by other DA codex prompt lists. Contains no plot spoilers for Veilguard.
A letter to Rook about their exile
An entry from Rook’s journal
A letter from Rook to someone in their faction
A note from a companion to Rook about the Lighthouse
A conversation overheard between Rook and a companion
Healer’s summary of treatment for Rook’s wounds
Something written by a character from a previous game about Rook
A future historian’s analysis of Rook’s actions (Bonus: featuring a relevant primary source)
Rook’s shopping list
Note found in Rook’s pocket
Report summarizing what is known about Rook by an allied or enemy faction
Rook’s daily schedule
A message between two companions about Rook
A letter from a faction leader to a companion about Rook’s actions
Rook’s packing list for travel to a quest location
Letter from Rook to their love interest
Rook’s notes on the Lighthouse/Caretaker
Notes between a companion and Rook regarding a personal quest
Inventory of personal belongings Rook left behind when they left their faction
Something written about Rook on a historical plaque
A letter from an enemy regarding Rook
An entry from an encyclopedia/travel guide about an aspect of Rook’s background (Bonus: followed by a note from Rook supporting or refuting its accuracy)
Excerpt from a play dramatizing Rook’s actions (Bonus: include a review of this play)
A letter from Rook to a faction leader
Notes taken by Rook when they were young/in training
A letter to Rook from a family member or close friend
Analysis of a piece of art created for/about Rook
Propaganda for or against Rook
Something written to Rook post-game
A note/letter that Rook never sent
it may take me a month to put out a chapter but at least im not using ai to write it.
it may take me a month to put out a chapter but at least im not using ai to write it.
it may take me a month to put out a chapter but at least im not using ai to write it.
it may take me a month to put out a chapter but at least im not using ai to write it.
it may take me a month to put out a chapter but at least im not using ai to write it.
IT MAY TAKE ME A MONTH TO PUT OUT A CHAPTER BUT AT LEAST IM NOT USING AI TO WRITE IT
"can you explain this gap in your resume?" I once breached the Fade in the name of another, to serve the Old Gods of the empire in person. I found only chaos and corruption. Dead whispers. For a thousand years I was confused. No more. I have gathered the will to return under no name but my own, to champion withered Tevinter and correct this blighted world. Beg that I succeed, for I have seen the throne of the gods, and it was empty!
Viago: Let’s not Rook this into a worse situation than it already is.
Rook: Did you just use my name as a verb?
*emerges from the other room covered in blood* you should see the word document
another Viago De Riva
This was starting to rot in my WIPs so just gonna call it done
I finally have time to draw 🎉 I'm so rusty but I've got like eight other Dragon Age sketches in the wings so hopefully that'll help!
Took some inspiration from Visual Calculus for the background
He's the King of Antiva to me
Inspired by this post by @vigilskeep because they opened my third eye with it.
neve is my daily motivator
Tell a story or draw something based on the prompt you are sent/choose. You can try writing in character, as Rook, if you want! Have fun!
1. The first time Rook killed someone.
2. How Rook got their most prominent scar.
3. A time Rook got incredibly drunk.
4. A time Rook made a personal enemy.
5. Rook being seriously ill.
6. A time Rook was severely injured.
7. Rook being taught an important skill.
8. A time Rook argued with someone they care about.
9. Rook saying goodbye to a friend.
10. Rook attending a funeral.
11. Rook being recognized for an accomplishment.
12. Rook making a new friend.
13. Rook visiting a place they love.
14. Rook attending a celebration.
15. Rook breaking the law.
16. Rook falling in love for the first time.
17. Rook teaching someone else a skill.
18. Rook trying to impress someone.
19. A time Rook did something embarrassing.
20. A time Rook faced an overwhelming enemy.
FACTION SPECIFIC PROMPTS
21. GW!Rook undergoing the Joining.
22. GW!Rook encountering their first Darkspawn.
23. GW!Rook having a nightmare of the Archdemons.
24. VJ!Rook disarming their first artifact.
25. VJ!Rook being attacked by the sentinels of Arlathan.
26. VJ!Rook exploring new Elvhen ruins.
27. MW!Rook tending to the gardens.
28. MW!Rook being inducted into the Watch.
29. MW!Rook exploring a new part of the Necropolis.
30. LoF!Rook escorting an adventuring party.
31. LoF!Rook disarming a trap or solving a puzzle.
32. LoF!Rook fighting an aquatic enemy.
33. Crow!Rook’s most dangerous contract.
34. Crow!Rook on an undercover mission.
35. Crow!Rook’s graduation from Fledgling to Assassin.
36. SD!Rook smuggling people out of Minrathous.
37. SD!Rook participating in a large-scale act of civil disruption against the Magisterium.
38. SD!Rook breaking in somewhere to acquire vital information.
jinae | writing my silly little stories dragon age: veilguard is my passion
103 posts